Half decent really small / mini guitar recommendations

[Jonny0276]

Hi, wondering if any of the experts here can recommend a decent guitar that can be played in standard EADGBA and is similar in size to the original Cordoba Mini?

The two most popular that keeps popping up on forums and review websites are Cordoba Mini and the Yamaha Guitalele but wanted to know if anyone had other recommendations other than these two?

ideally with a solid headstock and steel strings but I could live with nylon.

Max around $250.

Thanks!!

[DownUpDave]

If you want something that small in a steel string the Yamaha JR1 or JR2 (solid top) would fit the bill. It has a scale length of 21-1/2” which is very close to the Cordoba Mini at a 20” scale length. The Cordoba Mini II you mentioned has a 23” scale length so a Taylor GS mini would be close but it will have a larger body and bigger over all. The Yamaha JR series would match up well, not a bad sounding little guitar, check out YouTube videos

[Jonny0276]

Ahh sorry my fault I meant the original Mini Cordoba not Mini Cordoba II. I got confused. so I’m probably looking for more of a 20 inch scale.

I was considering the JR1s and JR2s but wanted something smaller than that.

[Norsepicker]

I just purchased an S Yairi YM 16 on EBay auction. I did see one advertised from Japan in your price range. I purchased it as a gift for a woman student (not guitar) with small hands. I’ll have to see how it works out for her, but the YouTube recordings of Japanese players are promising. The provenance of the guitar, as with most things Yairi, is a bit murky but I’m hopeful.

[ljguitar]

Hi Jonny…

About half-decent is how I'd describe many down-sized guitars. There are so many missing elements from miniature instruments.

As for me, I prefer all-decent.

I love parlor guitars, 12 fret guitars, and small bodied guitars. But there are limits to which builders aim scaled-down instruments which bring too many sacrifices in tone quality, sustain, bass/low-end, projection, reduced scale, and not full length scale.

But I suppose with a $250 cap on the purchase, you are not looking for virtuoso quality.

[gr81dorn]

That short of a scale isn't really made to play E-E. I've got a bunch and have had everything little out there. When you tune those shorts scales down like that, they sound like crap to my ears. IF you tune that 20ish" scale lenght to A-A (like capo 5 or uke) they shine.

There's not a lot out there in that size in steel that's not a straight up toy unless you wanna spend a bit more, but I think the real fun of that smaller size and scale is the tuning.

just my $0.02

[Jonny0276]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

That short of a scale isn't really made to play E-E. I've got a bunch and have had everything little out there. When you tune those shorts scales down like that, they sound like crap to my ears. IF you tune that 20ish" scale lenght to A-A (like capo 5 or uke) they shine.

There's not a lot out there in that size in steel that's not a straight up toy unless you wanna spend a bit more, but I think the real fun of that smaller size and scale is the tuning.

just my $0.02

Thanks for all your replies.

gr81dorn - I am currently learning to play guitar and as I already have a full size one wanted something I can carry from room to room and practice on whilst sitting on a sofa. As you mentioned you have played a lot a lot of little guitars can you tell me if it’s suitable to practice on as a newbie considering that the chords may sound different. For example if I’m playing along to a training video and they tell me to play an E it might sound like an A from my guitar. Is that something that could be a problem when learning? Especially as I should be getting my ear used to matching the noise that’s from my guitar to what the teacher is playing.

[Mbroady]

It’s billed As a travel guitar but it’s one of the only all solid wood production guitars in its size class.

The Furch little Jane
Edit...just realized you mentioned a specific budget. The suggested guitar is way above that. However, it’s worth checking out for future possibilities

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Jonny0276

Thanks for all your replies.

gr81dorn - I am currently learning to play guitar and as I already have a full size one wanted something I can carry from room to room and practice on whilst sitting on a sofa. As you mentioned you have played a lot a lot of little guitars can you tell me if it’s suitable to practice on as a newbie considering that the chords may sound different. For example if I’m playing along to a training video and they tell me to play an E it might sound like an A from my guitar. Is that something that could be a problem when learning? Especially as I should be getting my ear used to matching the noise that’s from my guitar to what the teacher is playing.

So, yeah, your tit-for-tat learning tools will not work because you'll be in a different key. I guess it will come down to what you're main goal is - tiny and comfortable at the expense of sound quality (which sounds right since you're primarily looking to practice fingering and chord shapes).

You should take a strong look at the Yamaha APXT2 - proportions are pretty little and it's super comfy to play, but also very well built, sounds really good and Yamaha's are a lot of guitar for the money. Works fine at standard EtoE tuning and the scale is shorter than most of the travel guitars, but just slightly bigger than the BAritone Uke guitars like the Cordoba. The overall size isn't so different than what you're after, but the advantages are pretty significant if you want to play in standard tuning and still want little, comfy proportions.

[Beakybird]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

You should take a strong look at the Yamaha APXT2 - proportions are pretty little and it's super comfy to play, but also very well built, sounds really good and Yamaha's
....

The Yamaha looks cool! I never heard of it.

Ibanez makes a piccolo guitar that's tuned A-A. It looks like a fun toy.

[Jonny0276]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

So, yeah, your tit-for-tat learning tools will not work because you'll be in a different key. I guess it will come down to what you're main goal is - tiny and comfortable at the expense of sound quality (which sounds right since you're primarily looking to practice fingering and chord shapes).

You should take a strong look at the Yamaha APXT2 - proportions are pretty little and it's super comfy to play, but also very well built, sounds really good and Yamaha's are a lot of guitar for the money. Works fine at standard EtoE tuning and the scale is shorter than most of the travel guitars, but just slightly bigger than the BAritone Uke guitars like the Cordoba. The overall size isn't so different than what you're after, but the advantages are pretty significant if you want to play in standard tuning and still want little, comfy proportions.

Thank you for that explanation, it was really helpful.

I just have one more question to clarify as it might be the ultimate decider for me. So as an example if the teacher or tablature says “play a C major chord” does that mean that if I play a Cm chord in the standard finger & fret positions on my A-A tuned Guitalele it would sound completely different and unrecognisable as a Cm? Or would it have the same general sound as a Cm but just a few tones higher?

Edit: I might have made things confusing as I know a Cm a few tones higher is not a Cm anymore. But what I’m really trying to ask is will the tune/melody still be recognisable if I use the standard size guitar finger & fret positions on my Guitalele if I’m playing along to a melody on a tablature.

The reason I ask is that if I can use the same finger & fret positions on my Guitalele that I’m learning on my normal size guitar and it sounds recognisable but a few tones higher then I don’t mind. But if the finger shapes do not translate at all on the Guitalele then there’s no way I can learn on it.

Thanks for the recommendation I will have a look into it but from the pictures it still looks a tiny bit bigger than what I’m really looking for.

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Jonny0276

Thank you for that explanation, it was really helpful.

I just have one more question to clarify as it might be the ultimate decider for me. So as an example if the teacher or tablature says “play a C major chord” does that mean that if I play a Cm chord in the standard finger positions on my A-A tuned Guitalele it would sound completely different and unrecognisable as a Cm? Or would it have the same general sound as a Cm but just a few tones higher?

The reason I ask is that if I can use the same finger positions on my Guitalele that I’m learning on my normal size guitar and it sounds recognisable but a few tones higher then I don’t mind. But if the finger shapes do not translate at all on the Guitalele then there’s no way I can learn on it.

Thanks for the recommendation I will have a look into it but from the pictures it still looks a tiny bit bigger than what I’m really looking for.

The fingering for a C in standard tuning makes a C. The fingering for a C in AtoA (uke) tuning makes an F.

Think of it like this - all of the chord shapes (fingerings) work in any relative tuning to standard. It's why people use capos, but the actual chords/notes are different because you've gone higher up the scale.

Essentially, the fun of something like AtoA tuning is that all of your chord shapes work and you can still play all of your favorite songs, you'd just transpose them to the new key.

Make sense?

[Jonny0276]

Originally Posted by gr81dorn

The fingering for a C in standard tuning makes a C. The fingering for a C in AtoA (uke) tuning makes an F.

Think of it like this - all of the chord shapes (fingerings) work in any relative tuning to standard. It's why people use capos, but the actual chords/notes are different because you've gone higher up the scale.

Essentially, the fun of something like AtoA tuning is that all of your chord shapes work and you can still play all of your favorite songs, you'd just transpose them to the new key.

Make sense?

I think so, sorry this is all new to me so apologies for my slowness in getting to grips with it.

So am I right in thinking that if I’m playing a tune off a tablature using my standard size guitar and I decide I want to stop and use my Guitalele for a bit I can carry on using the exact same finger and fret positions and follow the same notes on the sheet music but it will just sound a few octaves higher (playing a C from the tab will play like an F)? but ultimately it will be recognisable as the tune I’m trying to play?

Or as you mentioned transposing to a new key does this mean I will I have to learn the new finger positions to play C chord on my Guitalele so it exactly matches what I’m reading off the tab?

[bufflehead]

I have one of these, and it's a lot of fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLf7Q06My28

[gr81dorn]

Originally Posted by Jonny0276

I think so, sorry this is all new to me so apologies for my slowness in getting to grips with it.

So am I right in thinking that if I’m playing a tune off a tablature using my standard size guitar and I decide I want to stop and use my Guitalele for a bit I can carry on using the exact same finger and fret positions and follow the same notes on the sheet music but it will just sound a few octaves higher (playing a C from the tab will play like an F)? but ultimately it will be recognisable as the tune I’m trying to play?

Or as you mentioned transposing to a new key does this mean I will I have to learn the new finger positions to play C chord on my Guitalele so it exactly matches what I’m reading off the tab?

You can play Sweet Caroline using the C fingering on a guitar tuned E to E or A to A (or any such relative tuning). It will still work off the same tabs and it will still sound like the song. The version where you play the C fingering on the A to A guitar will just be in a higher key.

Technically, to play a C on an A to A guitar(lele) you'd use your G fingering to actually play the C chord to match the same pitch as the C fingering on the E to E guitar. That's what transposing is - TRANS(fering) the POS(ition) of the chord/note.

Simplified - your fingerings work no matter the scale or capo position so long as the strings are tuned relative to standard E to E tuning. You're simply moving the key.

Here's a perfect example....I like the C chord shape. It's easy to make and really easy to jump to the other chords in the Key of C, as well, so I often will use a capo to allow me to alway have my root chord be the C. This weekend, the singers at church like the key of D, so I am going to use a capo on the 2nd fret and play my C fingerings which will technically be a D chord, which will match the piano player, the bassist and the fiddler who are all playing Ds.